East Sussex healthcare alliance extended

Huw Oxburgh, local democracy reporter

Published:15:58Tuesday 21 August 2018

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The leader of East Sussex County Council has formally approved plans to extend a healthcare alliance with local NHS groups for a further year.

At a meeting on Monday (August 20), council leader Keith Glazier formally agreed that the council will follow the East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) alliance agreement until March 2020 in an effort to improve and integrate health and social care services in the county.

The decision to extend the agreement had previously been agreed by alliance members – including two East Sussex clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the NHS trust responsible for Eastbourne District General Hospital and Conquest Hospital in Hastings – at a meeting in November last year.

Cllr Glazier also agreed to delegate responsibility to the council’s chief executive to make amendments the agreement to reflect changes to how the alliance operates.

Cllr Glazier said: “The commitment to integrated care is what we are about here. There is no doubt in our minds that collectively we are much stronger than individually.

“We may need a bit of time to make adjustments between now and December and I have no problem in delegating that to the chief executive. I’m sure if anything substantial comes out of that then it will come back as a report to us.

“I agree the recommendations as printed and look forward to another successful year.”

East Sussex Better Together covers the area served by both Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford CCG and Hastings & Rother CCG. The High Weald Lewes Havens CCG is covered by a separate partnership called Connecting 4 You.